[kwlug-disc] Checking a USB disk for errors

[Khalid Baheyeldin]

I have a couple of 1TB external USB drive that I was using for backup, and
replaced with an eSATA dock some time back.

I wanted to re-purpose the 1TB drives for use with the PVR.

So before doing this, I wanted to check the disk for bad sectors.

The method I used is to connect the drive to the laptop, unmount the NTFS
filesystem that is on it, and then do:

time dd if=/dev/sdb bs=16mb of=/dev/null

So, I am trying to read every sector off the raw block device, in 16MB
chunks, if possible.

The problem is that it is taking many hours now, with the laptop heating up
(73C to 81C).

Now the questions:

1. What is a reasonable temperature for a laptop on A/C power? Under load
and no load?

2. Is there a better way for checking for errors on a disk? Faster way?

Thanks ...
-- 
Khalid M. Baheyeldin
2bits.com, Inc.
Fast Reliable Drupal
Drupal optimization, development, customization and consulting.
Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. --  Edsger W.Dijkstra
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. --   Leonardo da Vinci
For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple, and
wrong." -- H.L. Mencken
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